Georgios Karaiskakis

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This article is about the Greek military commander. For the municipality in Arta named after him, see Georgios Karaiskakis (municipality).
Georgios Karaiskakis
Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης
Georgios Karaiskakis.jpg
Georgios Karaiskakis; lithography by Karl Krazeisen.
Native name
Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης
Nickname(s)The Nun's Son
Bornc. 1782
, Karditsa, Arta, Ottoman Empire (now Greece)
DiedApril 23, 1827(1827-04-23) (aged 45)
Phaleron, Attica, Ottoman Empire (now Greece)
AllegianceGreece First Hellenic Republic
Service/branchGreek Revolution flag.svg Greek Revolutionary Army
Years of service1796–1827
Battles/wars
Greek War of Independence
  • First Siege of Missolonghi
  • Second Siege of Missolonghi
  • Battle of Arachova
  • Siege of the Acropolis
  • Battle of Phaleron  †
AwardsGRE Order Redeemer 1Class.png Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer
Spouse(s)Engolpia Skylodimou
ChildrenPinelopi Karaiskaki (daughter)
Eleni Karaiskaki (daughter)
Spyridon Karaiskakis (son)
Relations
Other workBody guard of Ali Pasha
SignatureG-karaiskakis-signature-1827.svg

Georgios Karaiskakis (Greek: Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης), born Georgios Karaiskos (Greek: Γεώργιος Καραΐσκος; 1782 – April 23, 1827), was a famous Greek military commander and a leader of the Greek War of Independence.

Early life[]

Karaiskakis was a Sarakatsani,[1] born in 1782 in a monastery near the village of Skoulikaria (Greek: Σκουληκαριά) close to Arta.[2] His father was the armatolos of the Valtos district, Dimitris Iskos or Karaiskos, his mother Zoe Dimiski (from Arta, Greece, who was also the niece of a local monastery abbot) and cousin of , captain of the armatoliki of Radovitsi.

At a very early age he became a klepht in the service of Katsantonis, a famous local Agrafiote brigand captain. He excelled as a klepht — agile, cunning, brave and reckless —[citation needed] and rose quickly through the ranks, eventually becoming a protopalikaro, or lieutenant.

At the age of fifteen he was captured by the troops of the Albanian ruler Ali Pasha and imprisoned at Ioannina, where he learned Albanian. Ali Pasha, impressed by Karaiskakis' courage and intelligence, released him from prison and had him serve as a member of his personal bodyguards.

During his service under Ali Pasha, he fought against another Ottoman warlord, Osman Pazvantoğlu, in 1798.[3]

Greek War of Independence[]

"The camp of Georgios Karaiskakis at Kastella" by Theodoros Vryzakis (1855).

Karaiskakis served in the army of Ali Pasha in his war against the Ottomans, but after his defeat and death, Karaiskakis fled to Vonitsa.[3]

In July 1821 he joined the Greek rebels in the  [el] against Pliasa Ismail Pasha,[3] but he soon left to pursue his long-held ambition of seizing the armatolik of Agrafa, then held by the family of .[3] Karaiskakis gathered supporters from Valtos and other areas, and was joined by Yannakis Rangos. In this way, he was able to take over Agrafa and was recognized as holder of the armatolik not only by the local captains, but also by the Ottoman authorities, who were too busy with suppressing the Greek uprising in the Morea (Peloponnese).[3]

Despite his recognition by the Ottomans, he attacked the Ottoman army retreating from the failed first siege of Missolonghi in early 1823,  [el] that tried to cross the Agrafa area at the pass of Agios Vlasios.[3] When Mustafa Pasha Bushatli, the Pasha of Scutari, arrived at Larissa in 1823, he ordered Karaiskakis to come before him and reaffirm his loyalty in person, rather than through a representative as was usual. Instead, Karaiskakis although heavily ill, left Agrafa with about 300 men and made for  [el]. There he stayed to recuperate, while his men joined Markos Botsaris' Souliotes, and eventually fought with them in the Battle of Karpenisi.[3] As his health did not improve, Karaiskakis left for Ithaca, then ruled by the British, to consult with local physicians. In his absence, Yannakis Rangos declared himself as leader of Karaiskakis' men.[3]

Karaiskakis' reputation grew during the middle and latter stages of the war. He helped lift the second siege of Missolonghi in 1823, and did his best[citation needed] to save the town from its third siege in 1826.

That same year (1826), he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Greek revolutionary forces in Rumeli, achieving mixed results: while failing to cooperate effectively with other leaders of the independence movement or with the foreign sympathizers fighting alongside the Greeks, he gained some military successes against the Ottomans.

His most famous victory was at the battle of Arachova, where his forces crushed a force of Turkish and Albanian troops under Mustafa Bey and Kehaya Bey.

In 1827, Karaiskakis participated in the failed attempt to raise the siege of Athens and attempted to prevent the massacre of the Ottoman garrison stationed in the convent of Saint Spyridon in Piraeus.

He was killed in action on his Greek name day, 23 April 1827, after being fatally wounded by a rifle bullet during the Battle of Phaleron. He was buried in the church of Saint Dimitrios on the island of Salamis, according to his expressed desire to be buried on the island.

Honours and popular culture[]

Monument in Neo Faliro, Piraeus

King Otto of Greece posthumously conferred Karaiskakis the Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer.[4]

Karaiskakis was famous among the fighters of the revolution for his tirade manner of speaking.[citation needed]

Karaiskaki Stadium in Neo Faliro, Piraeus is named after him as he was mortally wounded in the area.

Dionysis Savvopoulos wrote both the music and lyrics to the popular Greek song "Ode to Georgios Karaiskakis" (Greek: "Ωδή στο Γεώργιο Καραϊσκάκη"). Savvopoulos wrote the song for Che Guevara, but he chose this title to pass the censorship of the Greek military junta.

Family[]

Karaiskakis was married to Engolpia Skylodimou, and had three children: daughters Pinelopi and Eleni, and son Spyridon.

, a writer of the Interwar period, known for her pro-nazi beliefs, was also his descendant. She left Greece for Vienna with other collaborators after the Axis withdrawal in 1944, but returned later.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Clogg, Richard (2002). Minorities in Greece: aspects of a plural society. London: Hurst. “...klepth heroes of the revolutionary period such as Katsandonis and Karaiskakis were Sarakatsani, and the Sarakatsani themselves believed they were Greek patriots whose sense of freedom could suffer no restrains...”
  2. ^ Karl Mendelssohn Bartholdy,Geschichte Griechenlands, Volume 1, 1828, p.430 : «Georg Karaiskakis*), 1782 zu Skuli Karia in der Provinz Arta». – Camillo Ugoni, Vita e scritti di Giuseppe Pecchio, 1836, p.161: «Pecchio, descritte le visite e conversazioni da sè fatte in compagnia del generale Roche al generale Giorgio Caraiscachi, Epirota nativo di Arta». –Gustav Friedrich Hertzberg, Geschichte Griechenlands: Th. Von der Vollendung der osmanischen Eroberung bis zur Erhebung der Neugriechen gegen die Pforte (1470-1821), 1878, p.367 : «Georg Karaiskakis, ein Epirote aus Skylikaria, einige Meilen östlich von Arta». - Auguste Jean Raymond Fabre, Histoire Du Siege de Missolonghi: Suivie de Pieces Justificatives, 1827, p.191 : «George Karaïscaki, originaire d'Arta, s'était déja distingué, avant la révolution grecque, par ses exploits comme Klephte».
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Hatzimichalis, Ch. (1929). "Καραϊσκάκης Γεώργιος". Μεγάλη Στρατιωτικὴ καὶ Ναυτικὴ Ἐγκυκλοπαιδεία. Tόμος Τέταρτος: Καβάδης–Μωριάς [Great Military and Naval Encyclopaedia. Volume IV: Kavadh–Morea] (in Greek). Athens: Ἔκδοσις Μεγάλης Στρατιωτικῆς καὶ Ναυτικῆς Ἐγκυκλοπαιδείας. pp. 57–59. OCLC 31255024.
  4. ^ A.I. Kladis (1837). "Κεφάλαιον Ὄγδοον. Περὶ τῆς συστάσεως Τάγματος Ἀριστείας διὰ τὸ Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος." [Chapter Eight. On the establishment of an Order of Excellence for the Kingdom of Greece]. ΕΦΕΤΗΡΙΣ (Almanach) τοῦ Βασιλείου τῆς Ἑλλάδος διὰ τὸ ἔτος 1837. Athens: Βασιλικὴ Τυπογραφία καὶ Λιθογραφία. pp. 123–136.
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